Miami's LoanDepot Park was the setting for this year's Winter Classic, but the game was all New York Rangers. The Blueshirts (but wearing white jerseys for this game) skated to a 5-1 win over the hometown Panthers on Friday.

Mika Zibanejad had a Winter Classic to remember, scoring a hat trick while adding two assists for a five-point night. Zibanejad also took six shots, was 10 for 13 on faceoffs, and finished with a plus-3. He is on a slightly better pace than last season, also producing more consistently than he had last season when he endured an eight-game point drought. Zibanejad might not be the point-per-game producer he once was, but he still has the scoring chops to be rostered in just about every league.

MIKA ZIBANEJAD NETS THE FIRST EVER HAT TRICK IN THE WINTER CLASSIC 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EGgPlstn20

— ESPN (@espn) January 3, 2026

On Zibanejad's line, Artemi Panarin scored two goals while adding an assist while taking five shots. The Bread Man is hot with six points over his last three games. He is also above a point per game (44 PTS in 42 GP) in a big contract year.

Alexis Lafreniere chipped in three assists, which were his first points in four games.

Igor Shesterkin stopped 36 of 37 shots to earn the win. He now has four consecutive quality starts, so there should be no issues starting him in fantasy leagues at the moment.

Sam Reinhart scored the Panthers' lone goal, extending his point streak to seven games. Reinhart has 12 points over that span.

In addition to the loss, the Panthers lost the services of Seth Jones in the first period with an upper-body injury. Jones was hit by a puck in the head/neck area. The Panthers next play on Sunday against Colorado, so we may have a better idea of what exactly the injury is by then.

Either that's a broken collarbone and Seth Jones very likely misses the Olympics or it's more a bruise/contusion and he's day-to-day https://t.co/ro2kRntw1P

— Dr. Harjas Grewal (@Harjas_Grewal) January 3, 2026

As you might have guessed, this game didn't have a typical Winter Classic vibe. Maybe the Panthers should have gone all in on the Miami Vice look and had something like pink uniforms with palm trees on them instead of faux-retro jerseys. It's not like they have a super long history or anything. Quite the rides to roll up to work in, though.

Bringing the heat in the dead of winter 🔥 pic.twitter.com/PCA4wDOhts

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 2, 2026

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Oskar Sundqvist, Alexey Toropchenko, Pavel Buchnevich, and Mathieu Joseph each recorded two points in the Blues' 4-3 win over Vegas.

In allowing four goals on 19 shots, Carter Hart has three really bad starts and just one quality start over his last five games. Only seven goalies with at least the same number of games played as Hart (10) have a worse save percentage. I'm not sure whether he needs time to get his game back or if this is a sign of things to come, but the Golden Knights probably expected better. Adin Hill is currently listed as week-to-week, so the Golden Knights will have a decision on their hands at some point on whether Hart or Akira Schmid is the odd man out. Schmid is no longer waivers-exempt, and I think he might get claimed if he were placed on waivers.

This game was most notable because Jack Eichel returned to the Golden Knights' lineup. Eichel played over 19 minutes and took three shots, but he was held without a point with a minus-2. Hopefully you had time to activate Eichel from your IR and weren't thrown off by the early start time, as Friday is a weekday and was not a holiday anywhere to my knowledge (except for the goofy Wrestling Day holiday in the town where I grew up, which is nowhere near either Las Vegas or St. Louis).

For the record, I usually set my lineups either the night before or for the entire week – not right before 7 pm ET. However, being that prepared doesn't account for the surprises that can surface during the pre-game warmup 30 minutes before the start time, either with a star player returning or with a player suddenly inactivated with an injury that the team didn't announce beforehand. An unusual start time complicates this scenario even further. This may not affect your overall result much if you play in a head-to-head league, but it can feel like a missed opportunity if a player on your bench or you had targeted on your waiver wire goes off.

Anyway, enough ranting. Just try to stay on top of the schedule as best you can. There's a bunch of early start times today (Saturday), so be prepared.  

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After being a healthy scratch on Monday, Jake DeBrusk responded on Friday with a power-play goal and two assists on five shots in the Canucks' 4-3 shootout loss to Seattle. Although DeBrusk now has 10 goals on the season, the goal was just his second in his last 18 games. DeBrusk tends to run hot and cold, but he should be given every opportunity to reach 20 goals again this season on a scoring line and the top power play. Nine of DeBrusk's 10 goals this season have been on the power play, while only four players have more power-play goals this season than DeBrusk. That's the one thing he does really well for fantasy teams, as he scored 14 PPG last season.

Earlier in the day, the Canucks signed Linus Karlsson to a two-year extension with a $2.25 million AAV. Karlsson responded with another goal, which is his fifth in his last six games. The 26-year-old Karlsson has not only earned a regular spot in the Canucks' lineup this season, but he was bumped up to a line with DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson on Friday because of an injury to Conor Garland. One of the Abbotsford Canucks' top players in their Calder Cup run last season, Karlsson already has 10 goals and 17 points in 37 games. With more time on a scoring line, Karlsson might be worth a look in deeper leagues.

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Meanwhile, Quinn Hughes seems to have moved on rather well from Vancouver. Hughes assisted on four Wild goals in their 5-2 win over Anaheim. Since the trade three weeks ago, Hughes has 11 points (1 G, 10 A) in 10 games while averaging 27 minutes per game, which is similar icetime to what he had in Vancouver. Hughes should be back to a point-per-game before too long. His scoring ability is already well known, while he is elevating the play of his new teammates and wowing the fans in Minny.

#mnwild Quinn Hughes

First defenceman in NHL history to have a 4-assist game with multiple franchises in the same season

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) January 3, 2026

Danila Yurov scored two of Minnesota's goals, which were his first goals in eight games. Giving you a sneak peak of something I wrote in the Wild's "On the Block" section for the upcoming Midseason Guide (available January 8):

Moving Marco Rossi in the Hughes deal could also mean that Bill Guerin is looking for a proven option at the center position. That need could be intensified if Yurov isn't quite ready to step into the top 6.

Yurov has 15 points in 35 games this season. I'd say the Wild should shop for a veteran center if they really want to rub shoulders with Colorado and Dallas in the playoffs. They at least have a bit of cap space to do that.

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At the World Juniors, the Canada/US matchup that we look forward to just about every year will have to wait until at least next season. In what might have been the game of the tournament (except if you're American), Finland slipped past the United States 4-3 in overtime. Undrafted defenseman Arttu Välilä scored the game-winning goal for the Finns. The host Americans will now have to watch the rest of the tournament from the stands or on TV.

ARTTU VALILA IS THE OVERTIME HERO! FINLAND CRUSHES THE UNITED STATES' HOPES OF A THREE-PEAT AT THE #WORLDJUNIORS! 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/RGOAX0dTw5

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 3, 2026

Meanwhile, Canada scored five first-period goals en route to a convincing 7-1 win over Slovakia. The scoring was spread out for Canada, with Cole Beaudoin, Porter Martone, Michael Misa, and Sam O'Reilly all leading the way with a goal and an assist. Only six Canadian skaters did not register a point.

In other quarterfinal games, Czechia knocked off Switzerland 6-2, while Sweden defeated Latvia 6-3.

In the semifinals on Sunday, Canada will face Czechia, while Sweden will face Finland.

In the relegation game, Germany defeated Denmark 8-4, meaning that the Danes will drop out of the main World Junior tournament next season.

Victor Nuno will have more on the World Juniors in the upcoming The Journey, which will appear later today.

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Several countries announced their Olympic rosters on Friday, including the USA, Sweden, and Finland. You can view the rosters (at least for the 4 Nations teams) here.

The players selected on these rosters will be the source of much debate leading up to the Olympics, with no country immune to it. Like Canada leaving off Connor Bedard and Sam Bennett (among others), the US is dealing with the champagne problem of overflowing with qualified players. Jason Robertson and Adam Fox were two of the notable omissions from the US roster. Both would probably be on an all-fantasy roster of American players, although it's important to note that selecting these real-life rosters has to incorporate real-life skill sets and not just a set of numbers.

Some of the players left off the initial rosters may find themselves in the Olympics anyway, considering the rate that injuries have occurred during the condensed schedule set up to allow for said Olympics. It sounds like Bo Horvat's injury won't be serious enough for him to miss the Olympics, although he is expected to miss at least a week with a lower-body injury from Thursday's game against Utah.

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Let's get you set up for the weekend push.

Teams with games both Saturday and Sunday: Carolina, Columbus, Chicago, Colorado, Montreal, New Jersey, Pittsburgh

The Hurricanes have already played three games this week for the rare five-game week. Seth Jarvis returned to practice on Thursday, and he no doubt wanted to be selected to play for Canada at the Olympics. Jarvis was told to be on standby in case of injuries, so he might be motivated when he is able to return. If he does not play in the Olympics, he might be better rested than comparable players that were selected. That could be something to watch for after the Olympic break.

Now that Pyotr Kochetkov is out for the season, Brandon Bussi should be rostered in all leagues given his success this season (his January 1 performance against Montreal notwithstanding). He is still available in about a third of Yahoo and Fantrax leagues.

Anthony Mantha is quietly putting together an impressive comeback season. A Certified Band-Aid Boy, Mantha has stayed injury-free for the entire season while scoring at his highest rate (0.71 PTS/GP) since the 2019-20 season. Mantha has reached 70 games in a season just once since 2018-19, so he has been difficult to rely on after being a highly sought-after Red Wings prospect. Mantha, who is rostered in under 20% of Yahoo leagues, has six points in his last four games. 

Mantha's linemate Justin Brazeau is another option for the weekend. Brazeau also has six points in his last four games and a surprising 20 points in 25 games.

Teams with games neither Saturday nor Sunday: Anaheim, NY Rangers, Seattle

After being selected for the 4 Nations last season, Chris Kreider was not selected for the US Olympic team. At a point where he is no longer universally rosterable, Kreider had not scored a goal in 15 games and had not registered a point in six games. Aside from leagues that are on the deep side, the nearly-35-year-old Kreider is potentially droppable in many leagues.

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